Mumbai, Oct 24: Buoyed by a surge in sponge iron prices Grasim Industries, the Aditya Birla group’s flagship, has reported a 35% rise in net profit (before extraordinary items) to Rs 175.4 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, ’03. After including extraordinary items, which includes profit on sale of Indo-Gulf shares, the company saw a 58% jump in net profit to Rs 202.9 crore, as against Rs 128.7 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The company earned a one-time profit of Rs 28.9 crore on sale of shares in group firm Indo Gulf Fertilisers.
Net sales rose by 6% to Rs 1,177.2 crore, while other income shot up from Rs 36.6 crore to Rs 66.5 crore during the period. Profit before taxes and exceptional items surged from 180.8 crore to Rs 228.4 crore during the period.
Despite the improved performance, the Grasim scrip was down 4% at Rs 698.8 on the BSE on Thursday. For the three-month period, the company’s viscose filament business reported lower sales volumes. “However, an improvement in realisation, which rose by 6%, coupled with cost-optimisation measures has enabled the company to partially offset the impact of lower volumes and increased input costs,” Grasim said.
The cement business, on the contrary, recorded an 8% rise in sales, although realisations took a beating due to depressed cement prices. During the quarter, the share of blended cements in the total sales volumes increased from 34% to 47%. Bureau Report